Hong Kong’s Towngas in DME venture

Hong Kong and China Gas Co. Ltd. (Towngas), one of the oldest gas utilities in the world is expanding its operations. It has made a US$349 million deal to build a dimethyl ether (DME) plant in Chongqing, China. The plant would produce 400,000 tons per year (tpy) of DME for southwest China. DME can be used as a cooking or heating fuel, often as a substitute for LP-gas. In some areas, DME is being tested as a substitute for diesel fuel in public transport, but the fuel requires an entirely new storage and refueling infrastructure as well as a different on-board vehicle storage and fueling system. (March 18, 2009)